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RIP David Stern

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by Della9250, Jan 1, 2020.

  1. MileHigh

    MileHigh Moderator Staff Member

    An incredible giant not just for the NBA but for all of sports. He took a sport that was airing its finals -- THE FREAKIN' FINALS -- on tape delay and turned it not just into an American juggernaut but a worldwide one. The 1980s NBA truly transformed sports and Jordan took it to grander heights.

    Sure, it's more entertainment than basketball now, but every damn person associated with the league -- from managers to superstars -- owes their lifeblood -- and their bank accounts -- to Stern.

    RIP.
     
  2. Starman

    Starman Well-Known Member

    The finals-on-tape-delay stuff was over by Year 2 of the Bird-Magic era. Stern became commish in Year 4 -- when Jordan arrived.
     
    justgladtobehere likes this.
  3. Webster

    Webster Well-Known Member

    other than something from the two Godfather movies, probably my most used quote.
     
    Scout likes this.
  4. Cosmo

    Cosmo Well-Known Member

    Women's professional basketball wouldn't exist without Stern and the vision to create the WNBA. Say what you want to say about that league, but in terms of growing the game to another audience, it was huge.
     
  5. Sea Bass

    Sea Bass Well-Known Member

    I hadn’t heard that one, it’s awesome. My favourite Stern quote was the one about Barkley and Kenny Anderson not being able to speak English when they came into the league.
     
    Liut likes this.
  6. BTExpress

    BTExpress Well-Known Member

    And, as I pointed out in (I believe) the other Stern thread, it was overrated anyway.

    In 1979, East and Central time zones got one Finals game on tape delay.
    In 1980, Finals games 1-5 were shown live in East/Central, and affiliates could choose whether to show Game 6 live or on tape delay. Most chose tape delay (except for LA, Philly, Portland and Seattle, I believe), but remember, Game 6 was on a Friday night in the "Who Shot J.R.?" season of Dallas, and affiliates knew that they'd be better off showing that --- even a summer rerun by mid-May --- than an NBA game.

    And the only reason for this was the NBA's stupid decision in 1979 to move its schedule back two weeks, resulting in Finals games being played during May sweeps. When Finals were moved back to June in 1982, tape-delay vanished.
     
    Last edited: Jan 2, 2020
    exmediahack likes this.
  7. DanOregon

    DanOregon Well-Known Member

    Instead of an organ at the funeral they'll play...

     
    playthrough, Liut, Batman and 3 others like this.
  8. Deskgrunt50

    Deskgrunt50 Well-Known Member

    Stern’s legacy is bringing the NBA back from the brink in the 80s and then his push to make it the global game that it is.

    His acceptance of Magic after his HIV positive diagnosis is huge as well. I was in high school when Magic made his announcement. Wrote a column in the high school paper that we had likely seen Magic’s death notice.

    That was the thinking at the time. People thought you could catch the disease from shaking hands or through sweat.

    Stern welcomed back Magic to the 1992 All-Star Game (perhaps then most memorable ever) and on to the Dream Team.

    For all his accomplishments? I think the helping the public understanding and education about AIDS might be his most important.

    The easy choice was the shun Magic. Likely nobody would have questioned it at the time. Stern went the other way.
     
    qtlaw, Liut, Baron Scicluna and 2 others like this.
  9. Batman

    Batman Well-Known Member

    Will they have a funeral? Or will he be cryogenically frozen?
     
  10. exmediahack

    exmediahack Well-Known Member

    Now that we're in the next day...

    I just want Patrick Ewing to give the eulogy, walkup to the casket and there's a hopper with 7 envelopes -- each with a different eulogy. He picks out the envelope that is colder than the others and reads it.
     
    Gutter, swingline, HanSenSE and 2 others like this.
  11. Liut

    Liut Well-Known Member

    Often stated his favorite player growing up was Harry "The Horse" Gallatin. Turns out, Gallatin only predeceased him by four years. RIP
     
  12. justgladtobehere

    justgladtobehere Well-Known Member

    The WBNA wasn't a product of great vision. Women's professional basketball existed before and the league can't even pay its players the same wages as other leagues.
     
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